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Genie upgrade

I am proud to say that I have been with D since 1995 and a member here at DBS for several years. I do have a question. I dont totally know what Genie is. I currently have two DVRs,(HR24 and HR22) along with two HD recievers (H25 and H23). They are all networked with DECA and tied into my router. My question is: What is different with Genie? I can watch a recording, move to another room and continue. I can watch my recordings from my non-dvrs in the house so what is Genie compared to what I already have? Advice is always welcome as in the past.

The Genie is a 5-tuner DVR with a 1TB hard drive. It allows Picture-in-Picture and can be used with Genie clients. The clients are very small boxes that you use at a TV. The clients themselves do not have tuners in them so they use a tuner from the Genie itself. This also allows the clients to have full Trickplay functionality and they have full access to the Series Manager, ToDo List, and History on the Genie. The newest Genie, the HR44, has quite a small footprint in that it is even smaller than a HR24 and it is quite fast.

Record 5 shows at once. If you have a genie and 3 clients the genie will record 2 shows. While one each per client. With a TB of storage you never run out of room. With the clients or mini genies being very small you can mount them behind your Flat screen and never worry with them. Also the HR44 and clients come with a fairly nifty new remotes. I hope my simplified explanation helps!

Well yes that helped, so this would be an upgrade to my current system. Does D treat a client as a receiver? If I would move that way, I have a swim16, and an 8W and 4W splitter. I suppose there would be no good reason to hold on to my H23 and H25 or even my exisint HR24 and HR22, would there.. What type of deal do you think D would make for this upgrade.

Record 5 shows at once. If you have a genie and 3 clients the genie will record 2 shows. While one each per client. With a TB of storage you never run out of room. With the clients or mini genies being very small you can mount them behind your Flat screen and never worry with them. Also the HR44 and clients come with a fairly nifty new remotes. I hope my simplified explanation helps!

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Not exactly true. The clients, when on, use a tuner on the Genie, but the Genie can still record 5 things. If a client is on and the Genie needs its tuner, it just can't record something on another channel than the client is on. However, if all the clients are off, the Genie has full use of all 5 tuners.

Well yes that helped, so this would be an upgrade to my current system. Does D treat a client as a receiver? If I would move that way, I have a swim16, and an 8W and 4W splitter. I suppose there would be no good reason to hold on to my H23 and H25 or even my exisint HR24 and HR22, would there.. What type of deal do you think D would make for this upgrade.

A client is treated the same as a receiver. Some people prefer receivers to clients though for the situation when the Genie fails as they could still watch TV where the receiver is. Some people also prefer the speed of the H25 to the clients, which can have a little bit of lag, especially the C31s compared to the C41. As for holding onto the other DVRs, I would keep them as that would give you additional recording tuners/space. If your current setup,is the HR24, HR22, H25 and H23 and you are adding a HR44, I would replace the 2 receivers with clients and keep the DVRs. If you don't really need all that extra recording space/tuners, I'd drop the HR22 for a client. That would actually put you at 7 tuners and keep you with a SWM-LNB with only one cable from the dish to your house.

Also, three clients would work perfectly but I read that the HR44 can only handle 3 clients. What would I be up against to add more receivers in the future?

Only 3 clients can be active at once with the Genie, but you can have more than 3 clients on your account. If you try to turn on the 4th client while the other 3 are on, you'll get a message that the Genie is not available. You can always add additional receiversDVRs though. Just remember that any clients, DVRs, or receivers are an additional $6/month.

Correction:
HR22 being replaced the Genie
H23 being replaced by client
H25 being replaced by client
HR24.. I will keep

Click to expand...

You'll be happy with that setup. You won't need any DECA adapters and can forgo a Cinema Connection Kit as well, if you want. Just plug an Ethernet cable into the back of the HR44 and all of your receivers will have Internet access.

Thanks Merg..
The CSR told me I would need a Cinema Conn Kit.. I dont see why though. I do have the Deca blockes and two where my HR22 connects to my router. I think Deco is built in on my H24 but not my H23 but they will be heading out of here..lol.. So on my Genie, the only connection will be my coax straith into the Genie and a cat 5 cable from my router to the Genie, right. My router is only about a foot from where the Genie will be.
The CSR also said she could not quarantee i would get the HR44, it could be the HR34 (i hope not) She said the client untis are about as big as a Roku and since the new remotes are RF, I could attach them to the back of my TV's, so out of site.....nice..

Thanks Merg..
The CSR told me I would need a Cinema Conn Kit.. I dont see why though. I do have the Deca blockes and two where my HR22 connects to my router. I think Deco is built in on my H24 but not my H23 but they will be heading out of here..lol.. So on my Genie, the only connection will be my coax straith into the Genie and a cat 5 cable from my router to the Genie, right. My router is only about a foot from where the Genie will be.
The CSR also said she could not quarantee i would get the HR44, it could be the HR34 (i hope not) She said the client untis are about as big as a Roku and since the new remotes are RF, I could attach them to the back of my TV's, so out of site.....nice..

Click to expand...

Correct. The two DECA units you have behind the HR22 are actually two different types of DECAs. The one that has the Ethernet jumper to the HR22 is a regular DECA. The other one that has the Ethernet cable going to your router is the Cinema Connection Kit. The Genies can do the work the of the CCK. It doesn't matter if it is a HR34 or HR44. While the HR44 is a bit faster, they are both nice. The clients are very small. Just be aware that in order to use them in RF mode, you need to use the supplied RC71 remote. They will not work with the older DirecTV remotes in RF mode.

Correct. The two DECA units you have behind the HR22 are actually two different types of DECAs. The one that has the Ethernet jumper to the HR22 is a regular DECA. The other one that has the Ethernet cable going to your router is the Cinema Connection Kit. The Genies can do the work the of the CCK. It doesn't matter if it is a HR34 or HR44. While the HR44 is a bit faster, they are both nice. The clients are very small. Just be aware that in order to use them in RF mode, you need to use the supplied RC71 remote. They will not work with the older DirecTV remotes in RF mode.

- Merg

Click to expand...

I'd also add that if you get and HR34 with C31 clients they may not come with RF capable remotes. If you get C31s the remote will be the old style and could be RF/IR or just simply IR. I'd just make sure you have what you need before the installer leaves.

Merg and Mike,
Thanks for all your help and advice. Let's just hope I get the HR44 but either way, its an upgrade. I also understand that my Swim16 willl only require one coax from my dish. Does that mean the installer will have to install a different LNB array on my dish? Currently I have 4 lines coming in from the dish to my swim.

Merg and Mike,
Thanks for all your help and advice. Let's just hope I get the HR44 but either way, its an upgrade. I also understand that my Swim16 willl only require one coax from my dish. Does that mean the installer will have to install a different LNB array on my dish? Currently I have 4 lines coming in from the dish to my swim.

Click to expand...

No;

For a SWiM-16 external switch you'll need that same LNB you have now and the four wires coming from it.

The single wire one you are referring to is the SWiM intergrated LNB which cannot be used with a SWiM-16 and only supports up to 8 tuners.

I'd also like to post an add-on question to this upgrade thread. I currently have an HR34 running my main setup that I am happy with and an H24 in a bedroom. I was thinking of switching out the H24 for a client but was wondering if I am going to incur an upgrade fee along with a visit by an tech to accomplish this. Also, would I notice any slower performance in using the client vs. the H24? My main motivation in this is because the space where I have the H24 is kind of tight and I'd prefer to have a smaller box in that space. The ability to pause live TV would also be nice.

I'd also like to post an add-on question to this upgrade thread. I currently have an HR34 running my main setup that I am happy with and an H24 in a bedroom. I was thinking of switching out the H24 for a client but was wondering if I am going to incur an upgrade fee along with a visit by an tech to accomplish this. Also, would I notice any slower performance in using the client vs. the H24? My main motivation in this is because the space where I have the H24 is kind of tight and I'd prefer to have a smaller box in that space. The ability to pause live TV would also be nice.

Thanks for the help!!!

The C41 would probably be on par with the H24 with regards to speed. The C31 is a tad bit slower in response than the C41. Of course, if you order from DirecTV, you won't know what you are getting until you get it. Considering your setup, they might just drop ship the client to you. You can always order a C41 from a retailer though like Solid Signal.